Quote:
Originally Posted by worldlyhaligonian
Yeah, I'd say create an environment where something can't just be shot down if it meets a height cap. I think 19 stories is a great cap.
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This is where I go back to the work Larry Beasley did for Vancouver - a lot of that thinking actually went into HbD, but it didn't go far enough. Larry thought that if you are going to build verticle villages (which are the same as sprawling suburbs, only vertical) the needs of the residents are no different. They need parks, recreation centres, transportation, schools, etc. But what Larry did was say that developers should contribute to the cost of all this. So if you look at Vancouver's rules, you actually can't build a very tall building as of right. But through bonusing (some things mandatory, somethings optional) you can. So you might have to contribute to paying for parks, a pathway, transportation (streetcar/lrt) and affordable housing as several mandatory things and then public art and decorative sidewalk pavers as your optional bonusing. So by right, you might only get 6 stories - but thanks to these options, you get up to 20.
This is what HbD does not, but the 'menu' of bonusing is quite small. My hope with this project is to expand the 'menu' to include transportation, affordable housing and parks contributions as a way to get up to whatever height. But if you are going to do that, you have to be prepared to allow for much greater height because the cost will increase to the developer.